Hyper-update 2017

Hyper-update 2017

For a while now on Twitter, I’ve been hinting at some life changes happening that are affecting my ability to do some things like stream or work on projects. Now that the dust is beginning to settle and plans are being made, I’d like to spill the beans:

As of November 2016, I am no longer in college.

The official reason on paper is that I couldn’t continue paying for classes. I ran out of scholarships, and student loans were not paying enough (as silly as that may sound). But if I’m going to be honest... I was already looking for a way to take a break, or something of the sort. I still had options to continue if I really wanted to, but I decided against them.

The stress of college was becoming unbearable. My last quarter was one of my weakest in terms of grades, and that wasn’t just because of the course load. Every day was a struggle to do just what I absolutely needed to do, so that I could collapse on my bed and rest as much as possible. And that doesn’t just describe this last quarter, either - my life has felt like it’s been draining from me as the years have gone by.

Am I exaggerating here? Probably a little. But that’s what it felt like going through it, and it’s what I remember upon looking back.

The day after the quarter ended, I perked up tremendously. I'm not spending all day in bed anymore. I’ve started streaming again, I’ve started working on projects again, I’ve started being more social. Energy levels have been so high that I frequently distract myself from one project with another one.

Surely I’m exaggerating here, too? ...Surprisingly, no. I’m still recovering from the stress, but it’s been a very quick process.

The only thing that’s been keeping me from going full tilt on any project lately is figuring out what to do now that college is, er, “out of the way.” After talking with a lot of people about my options (and praying a lot), I think I’ve decided that it’s time to go back home for a while.

My parents are very open to this, so it should be a smooth transition. I’ll be able to recover much more quickly at home, and take care of things that I couldn’t before - or just didn’t. I’ve even been presented with some unique opportunities that I don’t have here. The biggest problem with this will be finding a job at home; this was a huge factor in my decision (since I already have a job here), but I think that things will work out.

As far as what you guys will see from me: In between packing, I hope to continue working on projects (one of them is almost ready for showtime!) and do some one-off streams. Then, when I get home and things stabilize a bit - expect to see a lot from me. Streams, sketches, videos, levels, writing, and as much energy as I can feasibly wring out of this human body of mine.

2017 is looking up.

Video content is go! Here’s a highlights reel from my recent streams of the Splatoon 2 Global Testfire! If you’ve never seen my streams or haven’t been able to make it to them, here’s a quick taste of what they’re like.

This is the first of (hopefully) many more, so I hope you enjoy!

A drawing of the Mueller PLS, from Fast RMX

I’m kind of in a state of “AAAA I DREW THIS???? WHAT”

Even though the texturing didn’t turn out quite like I wanted it to (Mueller logo etc.) I’m still amazed at how well this turned out. Drawing is still kind of uncharted territory for me, and I was working with marker for the first time, so I had a lot to work against. I’m really inspired to draw more now that I know what I’m capable of!

Summer Update 2016!

Hello everyone! Sorry for neglecting the blog for so long. (I’ve been active on Twitter though!) Today I just wanted to bring up some life stuff that’s happening.

First let me talk about this summer. I’ve been super lazy all summer and I love it. Work has been really chill, allowing me to get some well-needed rest after last year’s shenanigans. All the rest has let me catch up on my hobbies and other projects - such as streaming, which I’ve been doing pseudo-regularly for the past two months on my Twitch channel! I’m especially proud of how that’s been going, as it’s a hobby I’ve been meaning to start for at least a year now. Besides that, I’ve worked on some silly videos, and caught up with friends. Somewhere along the way, I even picked up a bit of self-confidence, although I don’t know exactly where it came from...

Unfortunately, though, all must come to an end, and the summer is no exception. My last year of college starts next week, and having looked over the schedule, I can’t afford to make any mistakes (or risk graduating next year instead). That means I need to focus on classes... and that means I can’t be focusing on Tumblr (sorry again!), or Twitch, or anything else really. Even if I tried, college has a habit of kicking me in the teeth and draining me of my energy, so I wouldn’t be able to anyway.

I’m not about to take a hiatus, but I will say this: I’ll only do stuff whenever I feel I can. So I won’t push myself to stream every week, or work on my other projects, or update this blog if it’s been dead for... wait it was already dead. But you get the point: I’m not disappearing, but I am shifting my focus.

And when the year is over? Well, I can’t speak for that yet. I don’t know how I’ll handle whatever new job I may have or whatever life stuff comes up. I’ll cross that bridge when it comes. But hopefully - hopefully - things will loosen up around then, and I can start a new chapter of life.

Anyway, thanks for reading! You help make this all worthwhile ^_^

Here’s a digital art thing I made recently! It’s my first real attempt with it so it’s nothing fancy yet, but I’m glad I’m starting to get back into drawing more - it’s something I’ve missed a lot.

Speaking of missing a lot, I actually posted this a whole month back on Twitter... haven’t been on Tumblr in a long time, I really need to fix that. How many memes have I been missing out on???

It's time for a report on something nobody asked about but maybe someone kind of wondered: playing Mari0 with the Nintendo Switch's Joy-Cons! (insert ® and ™ as needed)

For the unaware, the new controllers for the Switch are PC-compatible out of the box, no need for drivers. You just connect them via Bluetooth and they're good to go without any other setup. They interface through DirectInput, which is an older standard, so they don't work with every game. However, Löve2D recognizes DirectInput, so they work in Mari0!

Mostly. …Kind of.

The first setup I thought to try was to put the Joy-Cons together as one standard controller, and play with two sticks. Even though they're technically recognized as two separate controllers, there's nothing stopping one player from using two controller inputs. Curiously, though, the control sticks are recognized as "hats" (like a d-pad) rather than axes, and Mari0 only recognizes axes for aiming the portal gun.

This screenshot was unfortunately not taken with the new capture button.

In other words, this idea was pretty short-lived. You can play like this if you have a platforming-centric mappack (read: doesn't use the portal gun at all), but it's not exactly the best experience out there - especially since, in my testing, the right Joy-Con often had input lag of up to half a second. It was pretty excruciating to say the least, although that's probably just my Bluetooth driver not playing nice. (It's kinda amusing, though, since everyone else is having problems with their left Joy-Con.) If you're just going to platform, using just one on its side is your best bet. This still leaves us with one other option, however: one Joy-Con in one hand, and the mouse in the other.

This picture, on the other hand, was taken with the capture button. The one on my phone.

The problem with playing like this, however, is the button layout. There's not really a comfortable way to map even just run and jump. You could use SL and SR (the side shoulder buttons), but those are hard to press when holding it like this. You could use L and ZL (the back shoulder buttons), which works pretty decently; however, you have to hold the controller in a claw grip, which I can't imagine doing for more than five minutes - and I have small hands! You could press the stick for one of them, but that's hard to do when you're constantly moving it. Any other buttons require removing your thumb from the control stick, which is no bueno for platforming controls. And just imagine a left-hander trying to play with the right Joy-Con! In sum, it works, but with plenty of caveats. Final verdict: 2/10, just wait until Super Mario Maker: We Finally Added Slopes Edition comes out.